Language mindsets, perceived instrumentality, engagement and graded performance in English as a foreign language students

This study aimed to examine the relationships between English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ language mindsets (i.e. entity and incremental beliefs about general language intelligence, second language aptitude, and age sensitivity in language learning) and graded performance by considering the mediating roles of their perceived instrumentality as well as four aspects of engagement (i.e. agentic engagement, behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement) within English classes. A total of 526 EFL students voluntarily participated in the present study. A latent factor correlation analysis, a series of multiple regression analyses, and a structural equation modeling analysis were conducted to analyse the data. The results showed that EFL students’ language mindsets, four aspects of engagement, perceived instrumentality, and graded performance were significantly and selectively related to each other. The results also demonstrated that the relationship between incremental beliefs about second language aptitude and graded performance was fully mediated by perceived instrumentality, that the relationship between incremental beliefs about general language intelligence and graded performance was fully mediated by agentic engagement, and that the relationship between perceived instrumentality and graded performance was partially mediated by agentic engagement. Theoretical and practical implications for EFL learning, teaching, and educational policymaking processes are also discussed in the study.